Ban wont stop Woomera protest
by Bob Briton The authorities are threatening to ban the Woomera 2002 protest set to take place over the Easter long weekend. Last week Woomera's Defence Department- appointed Town Administrator said that, while no decision has been made, he had "concerns" about the protest that could lead to a ban. Mr McKenzie was quoted in the Advertiser as being concerned that protestors could block roads that service the detention centre and a nearby missile testing range. The Administrator also has "health and environmental concerns" about any campsite to be proposed by protestors. The report left government concerns that the protest is shaping up as an impressive show of solidarity, co-ordinating the efforts of a wide variety of community groups from around the country. In Adelaide, Hugh Calloway of participating organisation S11/AWOL told the Guardian that the announcement may well have been designed to create an atmosphere of confrontation and detract from the effectiveness of the protest. Hugh said that Melbourne groups have been given the job of bringing showers, toilets and a water tender for the protest. He also said that any suggestion that protestors would block goods and services necessary for the wellbeing of the asylum seekers was ludicrous. "If they had any sense, they would let the protests happen and respond as needed to any minor legal breaches", Hugh added. He also pointed out that any such incidents are likely to be rare given that the breadth of the concern in the community at recent developments will be reflected in the composition of the groups taking part. While the media seems to revel in portraying participants in recent major demonstrations as confrontational professional troublemakers, the reality is quite different. The Woomera 2002 protestors represent Australians from all walks of life — many of them will be from church-based groups like the 30 parishioners travelling by bus from Brisbane. Hugh suggested that people travelling thousands of kilometres to make their point would be unlikely to simply turn around and go back upon being told that their right to protest is to be denied them. In any case, the protestors will not be allowed to go beyond the outer perimeter fence of the facility, which is secured by the SA Police Department's STAR Force and the Commonwealth's Australian Protection Services, attached to the Australian Federal Police. These officers could be reinforced by guards employed at the now infamous detention centre for asylum seekers run by the private company, Australasian Correctional Management. Woomera is not like other Australian towns. It is entirely owned by the Australian Government and is administered by an appointee of the military. You must be employed to live there. Nowadays most of the inhabitants work for ACM at the detention centre. Up until 1991 the US spy base at Nurrungar was the main employer. The Woomera Prohibited Area (WPA) spans 127,000 square kilometres and is surrounded by a high fence. The WPA is covered by special legislation in keeping with its secret military functions. For example, visitors refusing to give their name to Police can be imprisoned for up to two and a half years. There are restrictions on the possession of media equipment, as you would imagine in an area used for missile tests and other military purposes. So unusual is Woomera's status that few eyebrows were raised when defence contractor BAE Systems offered last year to take over the running of the township and promote it as some sort of oddball tourist attraction. It is to be hoped that the offer is never taken up. As well as expressing solidarity with the asylum seekers in detention, protestors converging on Woomera over Easter will also protest over this military aspect of the town. They will make the connection between its military functions and the nuclear tests that began at Emu Field and Maralinga in 1953. They will point out the part played by the WPA in the nuclear cycle. It appears certain that the Commonwealth will override South Australia's legislation banning the location of nuclear waste dumps (including one for high level radioactive waste) in the area, despite the opposition of up 95 per cent of the State's population. The protests will also be directed at the accident-prone uranium mining industry. South Australia is home to the Roxby Downs, Beverley and Honeymoon uranium mines that have featured prominently in the media for their safety lapses. While the protestors probably won't be made welcome by Woomera's military authorities, they have received encouragement from the dispossessed Indigenous people of the region. Kokotha elder, Eileen Wingfield, wrote to the organisers recently to welcome their initiative and to make one small request: "When you mob come up to Woomera please think about how we been fighting for a long time." For more details visit: http://woomera2002.com/